Accentia delays IPO until next week or the following after receiving favorable FDA ruling

By Ronda Fears

Nashville, July 7 - Accentia BioPharmaceuticals Inc. has decided to delay its initial public offering until next week or the following week - but due to positive news rather than unfavorable market conditions, company spokesman Alan Pearce told Prospect News on Thursday.

"We were due to price last Thursday, but we got some favorable product news [from the Food and Drug Administration] on Wednesday," Pearce said. "We don't anticipate any problem in getting the IPO off, we just made a conscious decision to wait."

The Tampa, Fla.-based biotech is selling 6.25 million shares, including 1 million by Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc., proposed at $11 to $13 per share.

Now, Pearce said the company hopes to price the IPO next week, or at least within two weeks.

Lead underwriter is Jefferies & Co. Inc., with Robert W. Baird & Co., Ferris Baker Watts Inc. and Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. as co-managers.

Accentia focuses on the commercialization of targeted therapeutics in drug delivery technologies related to respiratory, oncology and critical care, and was formed by the Hopkins Capital Group LLC and affiliates in 2002.

Accentia's lead products are SinuNase, a nasal spray used to treat chronic rhinosinusitis, and Biovaxid, an immunotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The company also makes the Xcellerator instrument, designed for large-scale production of mammalian cell-secreted proteins, along with other cell production instruments. Its newest addition is Xodol, an oral treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain.

Of the IPO proceeds, Accentia plans to use $6.1 million to repay in full an outstanding loan from McKesson Corp., $5.2 million to complete Phase III clinical trials for SinuNase, $22.9 million to complete a Phase III clinical trial for Biovaxid, $4.3 million to complete the design and prototype for automated production of Biovaxid, and $6.7 million to fund milestone payments to partners and general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.